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GRAND BLANC, Michigan, Aug 10: World number one Tiger Woods justified his position as favourite for next week’s PGA Championship with a nine-under-par 63 on Friday to storm into a four-stroke lead at the Buick Open after two rounds.
Woods is making his fourth appearance in this event and is yet to win it, but at 14-under-par he is well clear of fellow Ryder Cup team mate Scott Verplank and J.J. Henry. For the second straight day, Woods played the Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club without a bogey and his round featured seven birdies and an eagle.
Verplank tried to keep pace, firing a seven-under 65 that put him at 10-under-par along with Henry, who posted a 67.
Six players are at nine-under, including first-round leader Kent Jones (70), Pat Bates (67), Australian Rod Pampling (66), Glen Day (68), Mexico’s Esteban Toledo (67) and Paraquay’s Carlos Franco (67).
Woods has won 15 of the 19 tournaments he has either led or shared the lead after 36 holes.
Earlier in the week, he predicted a score in the 20-under range would likely contend for the title, and he has no intention of backing off his aggressive play.
Woods entered the second round two shots behind Jones, but promptly birdied the par-five first hole to start a five-under 31 outward nine.
Woods made birdie at the par-three 11th and par-four 14th, then finished off with an eagle at the par-five 16th hole.
He has now gone 51 holes without a bogey dating back to the final round of the British Open at Muirfield.
Although Woods owns a four-stroke lead heading into the weekend, Verplank is not about to concede victory to him, but is also uncertain as to what it will take to catch him.
Verplank likes his position, but like several others hovering around second and a tie for third, he would have liked to have been lower.
Second round scores
130 Tiger Woods 67 63
134 Scott Verplank 69 65, J.J. Henry 67 67
135 Pat Bates 68 67, Kent Jones 65 70, Rod Pampling (Australia) 69 66, Glen Day 67 68, Esteban Toledo (Mexico) 68 67, Carlos Franco (Paraguay) 68 67
136 Luke Donald (Britain) 67 69, Tommy Tolles 72 64, Jim Furyk 69 67, Bart Bryant 67 69, Blaine McCallister 68 68, David Toms 68 68, Robert Damron 67 69, Bob Tway 71 65
137 Retief Goosen (South Africa) 70 67, John Senden (Australia) 68 69, Fred Funk 71 66, Jeff Sluman 70 67, Tom Pernice Jr. 69 68, Mark O’Meara 68 69 138 Tom Byrum 70 68, Vijay Singh (Fiji) 70 68, Jeff Brehaut 72 66
Other International Players
139 Brian Watts (Canada) 71 68, David Morland IV (Canada) 70 69, Richie Coughlan (Ireland) 71 68, Jose Coceres (Argentina) 73 66, Mike Weir (Canada) 72 67, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 71 68
140 K.J. Choi (South Korea) 66 74, Steve Allan (Australia) 72 68
141 Stephen Ames (Canada) 70 71, Brenden Pappas (South Africa) 72 69
142 Craig Perks (New Zealand) 70 72, Phil Tataurangi New Zealand) 71 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 72 70, Glen Hnatiuk (Canada) 74 68.
NEWPORT (Wales): Paul Lawrie equalled the Celtic Manor course record of 65 when the 1999 British Open champion finished off his weather-affected Wales Open second round on Saturday morning.
A seven-under-par return which took him to 12-under-par 132, earned the Briton an early two-stroke lead over Australian Richard Green, and England’s John Bickerton
However, nearly half the 156 field still had to complete their second round following Friday’s early finish because of fog, rain and lightning.
Lawrie returned to the course to sink a birdie putt on the 12th, the hole where he had lost out in a sudden-death playoff the previous year when bad weather also affected the event. Ireland’s Paul McGinley won the title after the shootout.
The 33-year-old Scot, who had racked up four birdies in five holes the previous day, also birdied two of the last three holes after picking up the shot on the 12th, to equal the 65s set by first-round leaders Green and South African James Kingston.
Lawrie said his early morning start had proved something of surprise.
Lawrie had said on Friday that he was unaffected by all the disruptions caused by the inclement weather and appeared unfazed by possibility of having to play two rounds on the final day.
Bickerton, making another bid for a maiden title in his eighth tour year after three second places, picked up four shots in his morning’s nine holes as he posted a 67.—Reuters
